TiVo adds free movie downloads

TiVo has announced its first major addition to its service with its free Movie of the Week download in collaboration with BlockBuster.

The new service begins on December 1 2008 and is designed to serve as a taster for a fully-fledged service launching next year.

The first Blockbuster Movie of the Week will be The Waterhorse followed by Men In Black, with subsequent movies released every Monday.

TiVo says the service, which requires a broadband connection, is designed to allow its users to "take a careful exploratory look at downloading content and the impact this will have on their broadband allocation".

"There aren't many products on the market today that just keep adding new services...with our product we will continue to grow the portfolio in broadband while the broadcasters grow their free-to-air digital channel", said TiVo's Hybrid TV CEO, Robbee Minicola.

In the United States, the TiVo unit uses the NetFlix service which enables users to watch movies via their broadband connection.

New functionality is due to be added to the TiVo unit in early-2009 and includes the TiVoToGo service which allows users to move recorded programs from the recorder to a PC or iPod.

Meanwhile, Foxtel announced its competing iQ2Go service at a Telstra Investor's Day earlier in the month which will involve a 16GB USB key loaded with DRM, and replaces the PSP-like unit the company previously planned, according to the Age.